Method for decreasing air leakage between adjacent elements in a data center

ABSTRACT

A method of at least partially filling a gap between adjacent elements in a data center having a hot aisle and a cold aisle to decrease air leakage between the hot aisle and the cold aisle through the gap is provided. The method includes providing a gap filler having a compressible material and an outer layer having an outer surface and an inner surface. The inner surface defines a sealed inner space and the outer layer encapsulates the compressible material in a compressed state within the inner space. The method also includes placing the gap filler in the gap between the adjacent elements in the data center and at least partially releasing a seal within the outer layer to allow air to flow into the inner space of the outer layer to permit the compressible material to expand from the compressed state within the inner space of the outer layer to an expanded state within the inner space of the outer layer, thereby at least partially filling the gap between the adjacent elements in the data center.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/321,057, filed Apr. 11, 2016, which is herein expressly incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to a method for decreasingair leakage between adjacent elements in a data center and, moreparticularly, placing a self-expanding gap filler in a gap betweenadjacent elements in a data center.

The self-expanding gap filler is useable in the field of data centers inwhich it is important to provide proper airflow control/blockage,particularly, in data centers that include hot and cold aisles.Typically, in these data centers, hot and cold aisles are providedseparate from each other through the use of containment components suchas physical structures of walls, doors, and blanking panels. Inaddition, these data centers will include multiple server rack cabinetsassociated with a hot aisle and a cold aisle. The server rack cabinetsmay take the form of a steel vertical box about two feet wide and six toseven feet tall. Within each server rack cabinet, one or more stackedcomputing devices, which may include computer servers and associatedcomponents, are provided. The server rack cabinets are arranged suchthat a front of the server rack cabinet is located at the cold aisle anda rear of the server rack cabinet is located at the hot aisle. With thisarrangement, cooling air is provided to the cold aisle, drawn throughthe computing devices, and heated air is discharged to the hot aisle.The flow of air through the server rack cabinets can be influenced byindividual fans of the computer servers as well as the air circulationsystem between the hot aisle and the cold aisle.

Due to the fast growing data center market and massive power consumptionassociated with its infrastructure, the need to conserve resources is ofutmost importance in using these data centers. Separating data centersinto hot and cold aisles by use of containment vastly increases coolingcapacities and has huge energy saving benefits. The amount of savingsdirectly correlates with the quality of separation between the hot andcold aisles. However, because server rack cabinets can vary in size,shape and deployment within a data center, gaps may exist betweenadjacent server rack cabinets, between server rack cabinets and a floor,and between the server rack cabinets and a containment system using hotand cold aisles. These gaps may allow undesirable air mixture to occuras heated air may escape from the hot aisle through the gaps and mixwith cooling air provided to the cold aisle, thereby increasing thetemperature of the cooling air before it is drawn through the computingdevices located in the server rack cabinets. Based on the variousconfigurations of the server rack cabinets, these gaps can be located invery tight spots or hard to reach areas.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,183,310, which is hereby incorporated by reference,disclose one example of a data center that provides a hot aisle and acold aisle to control cooling of stacked computer servers and associatedcomponents. In addition to providing server rack cabinets, the discloseddata center provides stalls into which individual server rack cabinetsare placed. Each of the stalls is pre-installed with filler elementsthat expand inward from sides of the stalls to contact the server rackcabinets later installed therein in an effort to prevent mixing ofheated air from the hot aisle and the cooling air from the cold aisle.Because the disclosed data center uses stalls, which are pre-installedwith filler elements, in addition to the server rack cabinets, the datacenter has added complexity over systems that do not require stalls, andis not useful is data centers in which the server rack cabinets arealready in place. In addition, it does not provide flexibility inaddressing leakages between the hot aisle and cool aisle afterinstallation nor does it solve leakages for existing systems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to address the airleakage between the hot aisle and the cold aisle to improve coolingefficiency and decrease cost.

According to principles of this invention, a method of at leastpartially filling a gap between adjacent elements in a data centerhaving a hot aisle and a cold aisle to decrease air leakage between thehot aisle and the cold aisle through the gap is provided. The methodincludes providing a self-expanding gap filler having a compressiblematerial and an outer layer having an outer surface and an innersurface, the inner surface defining a sealed inner space, the outerlayer encapsulating the compressible material in a compressed statewithin the inner space. The method further includes placing theself-expanding gap filler in the gap between the adjacent elements inthe data center and at least partially releasing a seal within the outerlayer to allow air to flow into the inner space of the outer layer topermit the compressible material to expand from the compressed statewithin the inner space of the outer layer to an expanded state withinthe inner space of the outer layer, thereby at least partially fillingthe gap between the adjacent elements in the data center.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the adjacentelements may include two server rack cabinets such that the gap islocated between adjacent sides of the two server rack cabinets. Placingthe self-expanding gap filler in the gap may include inserting theself-expanding gap filler in a direction from a front of the two serverrack cabinets towards a rear of the two server rack cabinets.

In still a further aspect of the present invention, a size of the gap atthe front of the two server rack cabinets may be less than a size of thegap at a location intermediate of the front of the two server rackcabinets and the rear of the two server rack cabinets, a size of theself-expanding gap filler with the compressible material in thecompressed state may be less than the size of the gap at the front ofthe two server rack cabinets, and a size of the self-expanding gapfiller with the compressible material in the expanded state may begreater than the size of the gap at the front of the two server rackcabinets.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the adjacentelements may include a floor of the data center and at least one serverrack cabinet having a bottom such that the gap is located between thefloor of the data center and the bottom of the server rack cabinet.Placing the self-expanding gap filler in the gap may include insertingthe self-expanding gap filler in a direction from a front of the atleast one server rack cabinet towards a rear of the at least one serverrack cabinet.

In a further aspect of the present invention, a height of the gap at thefront of the server rack cabinet is less than a height of the gap at alocation intermediate of the front of the at least one server rackcabinet and the rear of the at least one server rack cabinet, a heightof the self-expanding gap filler with the compressible material in thecompressed state may be less than the height of the gap at the front ofthe server rack cabinet, and a height of the self-expanding gap fillerwith the compressible material in the expanded state may be greater thanthe height of the gap at the front of the server rack cabinet.

In one aspect of the present invention, providing the self-expanding gapfiller may include providing a vacuum state within the inner space ofthe outer layer. In addition, at least partially releasing the seal mayinclude puncturing the outer layer.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the self-expanding gapfiller may include a valve. In addition, at least partially releasingthe seal may include opening the valve.

In still another aspect of the present invention, the self-expanding gapfiller may include a rib and groove closure. In addition, at leastpartially releasing the seal includes opening the rib and grooveclosure.

In another aspect of the present invention, the self-expanding gapfiller may include four sealed edges to define a perimeter of theself-expanding gap filler. In addition, at least partially releasing theseal includes breaking one of the four sealed edges.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, prior to at leastpartially releasing the seal, the outer layer may compress thecompressible material along an entire length thereof in the compressedstate.

In still another aspect of the present invention, providing theself-expanding gap filler may include providing the outer layer, placingthe compressible material in the outer layer, compressing thecompressible material, and sealing the outer layer to encapsulate thecompressible material. In addition, at least partially releasing theseal may include puncturing the outer layer.

Further scope of applicability of the present application will becomemore apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However,it should be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention and wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates a self-expanding gap filler in a compressed stateand FIG. 1B illustrates a self-expanding gap filler in an expanded stateaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of the self-expanding gap filler shown inFIG. 1B;

FIG. 3A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the self-expanding gapfiller taken along the line of FIG. 2 in a compressed state, and FIG. 3Billustrates the cross-sectional view of the self-expanding gap fillertaken along the line of FIG. 2 in an expanded state;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the components of theself-expanding gap filler according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a data center including aplurality of server rack cabinets;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a gap formed between adjacent server rackcabinets of the data center of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a gap between a server rack cabinet and floorof the data center of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 illustrates a frame of a server rack cabinet; and

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate alternative seal arrangements of aself-expanding gap filler according to other exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now in detail to the drawings for the purpose of illustratingexemplary embodiments of the present invention, a self-expanding gapfiller 100 useable in a method of at least partially filling a gapbetween adjacent elements in a data center having a hot aisle and a coldaisle to decrease air leakage between the hot aisle and the cold aislethrough the gap is shown in FIGS. 1A-4. The self-expanding gap filler100 includes an outer layer 110 and a compressible material 120. Theouter layer 110 has an outer surface and an inner surface, in which theinner surface may define a sealed inner space. The outer layer 110encapsulates the compressible material 120 in a compressed state withinthe inner space prior to deployment in the data center.

In this exemplary embodiment of the self-expanding gap filler 100, thecompressible material 120 may be first compressed, then vacuumed sealedin the outer layer 110. Alternatively, the compressible material 120 maysimply be compressed before being sealed in the outer layer 110. Asshown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the self-expanding gap filler 100 has a thinprofile when the outer layer 110 is sealed after compressing thecompressible material 120 (FIG. 1A) and a larger profile after at leastpartially releasing a seal within the outer layer 110 to allow air toflow into the inner space of the outer layer 110 to permit thecompressible material 120 to expand from the compressed state within theinner space of the outer layer to an expanded state within the innerspace of the outer layer (FIG. 1B). The thin profile and large profilemay be selected so as to fit into various gaps between adjacent elementsof a data center, which will be discussed below.

While FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 show the self-expanding gap filler 100 being ofindeterminate length, it is understood that the overall length of theself-expanding gap filler 100 can be selected based on environmentconstraints and may come in various lengths including, but not limitedto, 12 inches, 24 inches, 30 inches, and 96 inches.

The outer layer 110 may have a tubular configuration having two long,sealed edges 112, 114 and two short, sealed edges 116, 118 to enclosethe compressible material 120 located in the outer layer 110. The outerlayer 110 may be made to any desirable size, length, width or shapedepending on the gap to be filled upon expansion of the compressiblematerial 120. While the outer layer 110 has been shown with four sealededges, it is understood that other configurations of an outer layer canbe provided. For example, it may be possible to eliminate one or more ofthe sealed sides such that the outer layer has a continuous appearanceso long as the outer layer 110 can be sealed after the compressiblematerial 120 has been compressed.

The outer layer 110 may be formed of a variety of materials including,but not limited to, Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP),Polyvinylchloride (PVC), Polyester (PET), or Polyamide (PA). Thematerial of the outer layer 110 should be sufficiently strong to allow avacuum pressure to be applied to assist in the compression of thecompressible material 120 prior to sealing of the outer layer 110.Depending on the particular environment in which the self-expanding gapfiller is going to be used, the material may be selected to be airimpermeable, non-absorbent, and/or non-dust generating. For example,because the self-expanding gap filler 100 may be vacuum sealed, using anair impermeable material would allow the self-expanding gap filler 100to remain in a compressed state until the vacuum seal is specificallyreleased. In addition, because the self-expanding gap filler 100 may beused in a data center, using a non-absorbent and/or non-dust generatingmaterial may prevent degradation of the outer layer 110, which couldotherwise interfere with the cooling system or computing devices of thedata center.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the compressible material 120 fits withinthe outer layer 110 and must be compressible and expandable within theinner space of the outer layer 110 to enable the self-expanding gapfiller 100 to be expandable from the thin profile (FIG. 3A) to thelarger profile (FIG. 3B) to conform to various gaps. The self-expandinggap filler can be provided with various compressed thicknessesincluding, but not limited to, ⅛ inch to ½ inch, and can expand tovarious expanded thicknesses including, but not limited to, 1 inch to 3½inches. While FIG. 3A shows inner surfaces of the outer layer 110contacting each other, it is understood that this entire area does notnecessarily constitute the sealed sides, as FIG. 3B shows that innersurfaces of outer layer 110 move away from each other during expansionof the compressible material.

The compressible material 120 may be formed from a variety materialsincluding, but not limited to, an open cell, closed cell, charcoal, oracoustical type foam product. For example, the foam product may be madefrom PE, Neoprene, or PP. The compressible material 120 should beselected to be compressible during formation of the self-expanding gapfiller 100 and expandable once the seal is released. Preferably, thecompressible material 120 will not shrink or will only marginally shrinkover time.

According to this first exemplary embodiment, the self-expanding gapfiller 100 provides a thin flexible product that can be placed in adesired location, after which, the seal is at least partially releasedand the compressible material 120 expands to cause the outer layer 110and the compressible material 120 to at least partially fill or block agap by extending between sides of the gap between adjacent elements.There are many different ways to partially or wholly release the sealincluding puncturing the outer layer, cutting one of the sealed sides toopen the inner space, and the like. Accordingly, the self-expanding gapfiller 100 can at least partially fill or block gaps between one or moreadjacent elements of a data center once the seal is at least partiallyreleased.

As shown in FIG. 4, prior to assembling the self-expanding gap filler100, the outer layer 110 may be provided as a tubular member with sealededges 112, 114 preformed in the two long sides of the tubular member,and the compressible material 120 may be provided as a foam insert to beinserted into the outer layer 110. The compressible material 120 may beinserted into the tubular member by being pulled through one end of thetubular member. As such, neither of the short sides 116, 118 is sealedprior to insertion of the compressible member 120.

Once the compressible material 120 is inserted into the outer layer 110,one of the two short sides 116, 118 is sealed using conventionaltechniques such as a heat seal. After sealing one of the two short sides116, 118, the combined compressible material 120 and outer layer 110 maybe pressed using a press or other mechanical means to compress thecompressible material 120 within the outer layer 110. Preferably, thecompressible material is held in the compressed state by the press orother mechanical means while the other of the two short sides 116, 118is being vacuumed sealed. Vacuum sealing involves the application of avacuum to the inner space, as well as sealing one of the two short sides116, 118 by, for example, a heat seal. In this manner, theself-expanding gap filler 100 is formed to have the thin profile.

Depending on the type of vacuum sealing device used, an additionalseparate seal may be provided closer to the compressible material 120 atthe other of the two short sides 116, 118 so that excess material can betrimmed from the self-expanding gap filler 100. By applying a vacuumseal, the compressible material 120 can be compressed a greater amountthan that achievable by simply using a press or mechanical to compressthe compressible material 120 prior to sealing the compressible material120 in the outer layer.

While one particular approach to forming the self-expanding gap filler100 has been described, it is understood that other approaches could beused to form the self-expanding gap filler 100. For example, the step ofproviding a vacuum seal could be eliminated if the press or othermechanical means could sufficiently compress the compressible material120 to provide a desired thickness for the self-expanding gap filler 100in the compressed state.

One or more self-expanding gap fillers 100 may be placed betweenadjacent elements in a data center to at least partially fill or blockgaps between the adjacent elements of the data center to decrease orprevent air leakage between a hot aisle and a cold aisle. In particular,as shown in FIG. 5, a data center 200 may include a hot aisle 210, acold aisle 220, a first plurality of server rack cabinets 230 and asecond plurality of server rack cabinets 240. Each of the server rackcabinets 230, 240 may include one or more computing devices 232, 242. Inthis arrangement, the hot aisle 210 is located at the rear of the serverrack cabinets 230, 240 and the cold aisle 220 is located at the front ofthe server rack cabinets 230. While not labeled, another cold aisle islocated at the front of the server rack cabinets 240. Hot aisles andcold aisle are well known as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,183,310 andtherefore specific descriptions thereof are not set forth herein.

Whenever a plurality of server rack cabinets are arranged in a row, itis common for gaps to be formed between adjacent server rack cabinets.If these gaps are not at least partially filled or blocked, it ispossible that too much air may leak from the hot aisle to the coldaisle, thereby detrimentally decreasing the efficiency of the coolingsystem using the hot and cold aisles. FIGS. 6 and 7 schematicallyrepresent two adjacent server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b of the firstplurality of server rack cabinets 230. A plurality of computing devices232 a, 232 b are provided within the server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b.The server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b may include wheels at a bottom ofthe respective server rack cabinets. A gap G1 is formed between adjacentsides of the two server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b. In this particulararrangement, the gap G1 may have a first width D1 at the front of theserver rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b and have a second width D2 near therear of the server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b. Depending on theconfiguration of the server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b, the first widthD1 may be less than the second width D2. For example, the first width D1may be ⅜ of an inch while the second width D2 may be 2½ inches.

Because of the relative sizes of the gap G1, it is often difficult topartially fill or block gap G1 from the front of the server rackcabinets 230 a, 230 b. By using a self-expanding gap filler 100, it ispossible to insert the self-expanding gap filler 100 through the firstwidth D1 of gap G1, then at least partially release the seal so that theself-expanding gap filler 100 fills the second width D2 of the gap G1between the adjacent server rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b. That is, theself-expanding gap filler 100 may be less than ⅜ of an inch when in thecompressed state and may expand to 2½ inches to at least partially fillor block the gap G1. It is understood that the self-expanding gap fillermay have different sizes in the compressed state and the expanded stateto fit different gaps.

In addition to having gap G1 between adjacent server rack cabinets 230a, 230 b, a gap G2 may exist between a bottom of the server rack cabinet230 a and a floor 300 where a data center is located, as shown in FIGS.8 and 9. The gap G2 may exist because of rollers located at the bottomof the server rack cabinet 230 a or other means used for spacing thebottom of the server rack cabinet 230 a from the floor 300. In addition,the gap G2 may have a first height H1 at the front of the server rackcabinets 230 a, 230 b and have a second height H2 near the rear of theserver rack cabinets 230 a, 230 b. Similar to the arrangement shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the first height H1 may be less than the second heightH2.

Similar to the arrangement described above, a self-expanding gap filler100 may be inserted from the front of the server rack cabinet 230 a soas to be located either behind the rollers or in front of the rollers.Then, the seal of the self-expanding gap filler 100 is at leastpartially released to at least partially fill or block the gap G2between the bottom of the server rack cabinet 230 a and the floor 300.

While the server rack cabinets 230 a and 230 b shown in FIGS. 6-9 havebeen depicted as having smooth outer surfaces for ease of explanation,it is understood that the server rack cabinets may take various formsand/or have irregular surfaces that would make it difficult to at leastpartially fill or block a gap using conventional techniques. Forexample, FIG. 10 shows an open frame 400 for a server rack cabinet thatdoes not have smooth surfaces to define the exterior of the server rackcabinet. As such, depending on the size and number of computing devicesmounted therein, the exterior of the server rack cabinet may presentirregular side surfaces and bottom surfaces. As such, gaps betweenadjacent server rack cabinets and between bottoms surfaces and the floormay vary over the height or width of the server rack cabinets, which canbe difficult to partially fill or block. The self-expanding gap filler100 can accommodate these irregularities as the compressible materialexpands outwards to at least partially fill or block the gaps. Inaddition, the self-expanding gap filler 100 can be located at variouslocations to at least partially fill or block the gaps.

In addition to inserting the self-expanding gap filler 100 eithervertically or horizontally to extend across a gap between adjacentserver rack cabinets or between a server rack cabinet and a floorwithout bending the self-expanding gap filler 100, it is possible tofold the self-expanding gap filler 100 to at least partially fill orblock a particular gap shape. For example, the self-expanding gap fillercould be folded into a u-shape configuration to extend along the sidesand rear of the frame 400. In this manner, three sides of the bottom ofthe frame 400 can prevent air from flowing from a hot aisle to a coldaisle. Alternatively, the self-expanding gap filler can be pre-formed tohave various shapes.

While the first embodiment of the self-expanding gap filler has beendescribed as being formed with four sealed edges to encapsulate thecompressible material in a compressed state, a self-expanding gap filler100′, as shown in FIG. 11, may be provided with a valve 130 provided inone of the sides that allows for applying/releasing a seal. Theremaining features of the self-expanding gap filler 100′ are similar tothe self-expanding gap filler 100 described above.

The valve 130 may be a twistable valve or a Schrader valve. In thismanner, it is possible to reuse the self-expanding gap filler 100′ bysimply recompressing the compressible material and reapplying a vacuumto the interior of the outer layer.

Another self-expanding gap filler 100″, as shown in FIG. 12, may beprovided with a rib and groove closure 140 in one of the short sides116″. The rib and groove closure 140 includes a rib 142 configured to bepressed into groove 144 to seal the outer layer 110″. The remainingfeatures of the self-expanding gap filler 100″, including the outerlayer 110″ and compressible material 120″, are similar to theself-expanding gap filler 100 described above.

Although the self-expanding gap filler of the present invention has beendescribed generally as being installed in an existing data center afterthe server rack cabinets are in place, it is also envisioned that theself-expanding gap filler may be pre-installed in a compressed statealong one or more of side, top and bottom surfaces of the server rackcabinets, such as by using an adhesive or hook-and-loop fasteners toattach the self-expanding gap filler to one or more of side, top andbottom surfaces of the server rack cabinets, prior to installation ofthe server rack cabinets in the data center, and then expanded, bypuncturing of the outer layer or other methods described herein, afterthe server rack cabinets are in place within the data center.Alternatively, in data centers utilizing stalls as previously described,it is envisioned that the self-expanding gap filler may be pre-installedin a compressed state along one or more of side, top and bottom surfacesof the stall, such as by using an adhesive or hook-and-loop fasteners toattach the self-expanding gap filler to one or more of side, top andbottom surfaces of the stall, prior to installation of a server rackcabinet in the stall, and then expanded, by puncturing the outer layeror other methods described herein, after the server rack cabinet is inplace within the stall.

The invention thus being described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of at least partially filling a gapbetween adjacent elements in a data center having a hot aisle and a coldaisle to decrease air leakage between the hot aisle and the cold aislethrough the gap, the method comprising: providing a self-expanding gapfiller including: a compressible material; and an outer layer having anouter surface and an inner surface, the inner surface defining a sealedinner space, the outer layer encapsulating the compressible material ina compressed state within the inner space; placing the self-expandinggap filler in the gap between the adjacent elements in the data center;and at least partially releasing a seal within the outer layer to allowair to flow into the inner space of the outer layer to permit thecompressible material to expand from the compressed state within theinner space of the outer layer to an expanded state within the innerspace of the outer layer, thereby at least partially filling the gapbetween the adjacent elements in the data center.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the adjacent elements include two serverrack cabinets such that the gap is located between adjacent sides of thetwo server rack cabinets.
 3. The method according to claim 2, whereinplacing the self-expanding gap filler in the gap includes inserting theself-expanding gap filler in a direction from a front of the two serverrack cabinets towards a rear of the two server rack cabinets.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein a size of the gap at the front of the twoserver rack cabinets is less than a size of the gap at a locationintermediate of the front of the two server rack cabinets and the rearof the two server rack cabinets, wherein a size of the self-expandinggap filler with the compressible material in the compressed state isless than the size of the gap at the front of the two server rackcabinets, and wherein a size of the self-expanding gap filler with thecompressible material in the expanded state is greater than the size ofthe gap at the front of the two server rack cabinets.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the adjacent elements include a floor ofthe data center and at least one server rack cabinet having a bottom andsuch that the gap is located between the floor of the data center andthe bottom of the server rack cabinet.
 6. The method according to claim5, wherein placing the self-expanding gap filler in the gap includesinserting the self-expanding gap filler in a direction from a front ofthe at least one server rack cabinet towards a rear of the at least oneserver rack cabinet.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein aheight of the gap at the front of the server rack cabinet is less than aheight of the gap at a location intermediate of the front of the atleast one server rack cabinet and the rear of the at least one serverrack cabinet, wherein a height of the self-expanding gap filler with thecompressible material in the compressed state is less than the height ofthe gap at the front of the server rack cabinet, and wherein a height ofthe self-expanding gap filler with the compressible material in theexpanded state is greater than the height of the gap at the front of theserver rack cabinet.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjacentelements include two server rack cabinets and a floor of the datacenter, wherein the gap includes a first gap located between adjacentsides of the two server rack cabinets and a second gap between a bottomof one of the two server rack cabinets and the floor of the data center.9. The method of claim 8, wherein placing the self-expanding gap fillerin the gap between the adjacent elements in the data center comprises:inserting a first self-expanding gap filler into the first gap in adirection from a front of the two server rack cabinets towards a rear ofthe two server rack cabinets; and inserting a second self-expanding gapfiller into the second gap in said direction.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein providing the self-expanding gap filler includes providing avacuum state within the inner space of the outer layer.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein at least partially releasing the seal includespuncturing the outer layer.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theself-expanding gap filler includes a valve, and wherein at leastpartially releasing the seal includes opening the valve.
 13. The methodof claim 10, wherein the self-expanding gap filler includes a rib andgroove closure, and wherein at least partially releasing the sealincludes opening the rib and groove closure.
 14. The method of claim 10,wherein the self-expanding gap filler includes four sealed edges todefine a perimeter of the self-expanding gap filler, and wherein atleast partially releasing the seal includes breaking one of the foursealed edges.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein, prior to at leastpartially releasing the seal, the outer layer compresses thecompressible material along an entire length thereof in the compressedstate.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the self-expandinggap filler includes: providing the outer layer; placing the compressiblematerial in the outer layer; compressing the compressible material; andsealing the outer layer to encapsulate the compressible material, andwherein the at least partially releasing the seal includes puncturingthe outer layer.